Ezekiel 35:14
in Ezekiel 35This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 35
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWhen the whole earth rejoiceth - When the whole land shall rejoice in the restoration of the Jews, I will make thee desolate. Probably this refers to the time of the Maccabees.
This site's exposition
While the whole earth rejoices
on Ezekiel 35:14-15
As Edom rejoiced over Israel's desolation, so Edom becomes the desolation, named twice, by Mount Seir and by all Idumea, the same region's later name. The recognition formula gives the chapter's last word, judgment and self-knowledge tied together as everywhere else in the book.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 35) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say to it, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It was a national sin (the blasphemies charged upon them were the sense and language of all the Edomites), and therefore shall be punished with a national desolation.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord G OD , I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v5-6
In the destruction of the enemies of the church God designs his own glory, and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design. (1.) That which he intends is to manifest himself, as a just and jealous God, firm to his covenant and faithful to his people and their injured cause (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thus saith the Lord God, when the whole earth rejoiceth,.... When it shall go well with the world in general, and the inhabitants of it; when they shall enjoy great peace and prosperity.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Edom, that now rejoices over fallen Israel, shall then, when elsewhere all is joy, mourn, and for ever (Isa 65:17-19; HAVERNICK loses this striking antithesis by translating, "According to the joy of the whole land (of Edom), so I will make thee desolate"; which would make Eze 35:15 a mere repetition of this.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
When the whole earth rejoices when I claim My kingdom, for then the whole earth will rejoice, as the idea is stated (Ps.:1): “The Lord has reigned; the earth will exult.” Then I will make you a desolation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| כִּשְׂמֹ֙חַ֙ | kismoach | when rejoices | H8055 → | 155 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שְׁמָמָ֖ה | shemamah | desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| אֶעֱשֶׂה־ | ʾeeseh- | I will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּֽךְ׃ | lakh | for you |
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
כִּשְׂמֹ֙חַ֙when rejoices
kismoachH8055 →155 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
שְׁמָמָ֖הdesolation
shemamahH8077 →57 times
אֶעֱשֶׂה־I will make
ʾeeseh-H6213 →2628 times
לָּֽךְ׃for you
lakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 51:48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:20
Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has…
- Jeremiah 50:3
For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
- Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
- Isaiah 48:20
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
- Revelation 18:20
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.